The state has very nearly reached it's wolf hunt quota of 251, which has prompted the DNR to end the season.

A flood of wolves killed by hunters prompted the Department of Natural Resources to close the state's wolf hunting season at 5 p.m. on Monday.

Hunters stepped up their shooting of wolves in northwest Wisconsin over the weekend, and the state is now very close to its harvest quota of 251 wolves. Hunters using dogs are responsible for almost all the weekend kills, and the state says the number of wolf deaths where dogs did the chasing is about 30.

Tom Hauge of the DNR says dog use over the last three weeks apparently went pretty well. “[It] seems to have been performing within normal side bars as far as we know,” says Hauge. “If there are problems out there, they may not surface right away.”

Hauge rejects the rumor that the state rapidly shut down the hunt because it's embarrassed by hunters posting more wolf kill pictures on social media. Some photos have hunters their arms around the wolves, holding the dead and bloodied with animals up for the camera.

Rachel Tilseth of the animal education group Wolves of Douglas County Wisconsin says it's vital that independent experts can now verify that dogs didn't illegally fight with wolves.

“I’d like to have those wolves examined by an independent veterinarian,” says Tilseth. “This is a very controversial subject – this wolf-hounding – and I believe we need to see all the evidence.”

Tilseth says she'll continue to try to get dogs banned from future Wisconsin wolf hunts. Republican lawmakers have refused to allow a hearing on a recently introduced bill ordering such a ban.

#STOPHOUNDING #BANHOUNDING2 WOLVES WERE KILLED BY HUNTERS USING DOGS THIS WEEKDecember 06, 2013

#STOPWISCONSINWOLFHUNTS PETITIONS HERE. http://nowolfhaters.blogspot.com/p/wisconsin-wolves-actions-news.htmlBy Chuck QuirmbachThe Department of Natural Resources reports that two grey wolves killed in Wisconsin this week were shot by hunters who used dogs to pursue the wolves.The wolf deaths happened in Rusk and Washburn counties. The DNR's Dave MacFarland says hunters registered the wolf kills by phone. MacFarland says it may take a while to learn more details about how the dogs were used during the wolf harvest.“The hunters are required by the fifth day of the month after harvest – so for these animals, that would be Jan. 5 – to organize a registration meeting with one of the wardens,” says MacFarland. “So the warden registration component of the registration process has not yet occurred for these animals.”MacFarland says most of the discussions between wolf hunters and DNR wardens happen fairly quickly.Rachel Tilseth of the animal protection group Wolves of Douglas County says she'd like to hear more details of this week's wolf deaths, and hear soon.“I would like to see more wardens out there,” says Tilseth. “I would like to know how many wardens were out there, and I haven’t heard anything on that. Once I find that out, I would like to know if the dogs chewed up the wolf. I want to know the condition of the animal.”The DNR says it remains committed to enforcing state law, which only allows hunters to use dogs to track the wolves, not fight with them. The DNR says wolf hunters are now 32 short of this season's quota. The only remaining wolf hunt zone is one in northwest Wisconsin.

“In the relation between people and animals we cannot fathom the pleasure

that many people derive from inflicting suffering”. ~ Marius Donker

The Department of Natural Resources documents nearly 19,000 car-deer accidents wreaked on Wisconsin roads so far this year. 14 people died in deer/car crashes. The “9-day traditional hunt” will increase those numbers. It is part of our cost of their doing business, killing during the rut when deer are disoriented with seasonal hormones raging.

Adrenaline will also be raging as over 600,000 hunters take to the woods November 23 – December 1 to destroy over 300,000 deer. But it is just part of the September 14 to January 31 expanded deer killing opportunities: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/documents/forecast.pdf

One overall concept should be stressed. It is our duty to stop people from deliberately causing suffering. Some people enjoy killing. It is the rest of society that has failed to say “Enough”.

The 90% of us who do not kill are disenfranchised, by design and our own neglect. We have not stood for a way to spare our animals – even on our own property as they are lured out to surrounding feed lots and lures. We need our human rights to defend us in protecting our wild neighbors. Instead we have “hunter harrassment laws” criminalizing anyone who tries.

All human “rights” are an invention of humans to serve themselves. The most organized push their exploitation into law, often against the rest of us. It is clear that animals and nature do not have any rights in this human system of laws unless we act on their behalf. It is a human responsibility to protect the vulnerable. Stop farming for deer to kill, destroying natural predators and balance. “The public is continually misled about the purpose of hunting and fed a bunch of nonsense about what “justifies” hunters in killing deer,” blogs Cheryl Abbate http://veganfeministnetwork.com/tis-the-season-of-blood-guns-violence-and-hyper-masculinity/ in ‘Tis the Season of Blood, Guns, Violence, and Hyper-masculinity.

Cathy Stepp has announced growing the deer herd another 175,000 with policies favoring killing trophy bucks to leave does to produce next year’s crop. 10% of those extra deer end up dead on the road causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in car repairs, human trauma, hospital and funeral expenses for the rest of us.

Such are the tangle of laws that entitle hunters. Hunting is one recreational private pursuit that endangers all of us. Although most of the 1000 hunter accidental shootings and killings of people in this country happen to other hunters, we are all at risk with hunting and trapping expanded to almost all public lands including state parks.

Killing is the “connection to nature” taught by the DNR.

How about introducing children to a live fawn and humane education to give them choice before they kill one?

“For me – and the many people who contact me to offer their support – killing innocent animals for self-gratification is no different from killing innocent people for self-gratification. By extension, then, trophy hunting – the repeated killing of wild animals – should surely be viewed as serial killing.”

He describes the similarities between joy in killing animals and the power and control addictions of serial killing humans. ( Wisconsin is infamous for producing serial killers, two who cannibalized their victims. )

Often the first murder causes feelings of revulsion and remorse. This is a initial response repeatedly described by hunters who were taught to kill as children. Patterson expands on this: “But the killing – like a dose of highly addictive drug – leads to more and more murders until the person is stopped.”

Trophy hunters are repeat hunters who often expand their recreation to other states, and many species. Hunting competitions and photo ops of organizations like Safari Club International, promote killing over 300 animals to win top prizes. Hunting magazines are filled with pictures of hunters flaunting their weapons and victims, and advertisements for canned hunts world-wide. Trophy hunters take pictures or films of the moment the animal is killed for viewing later, like pornography, for self-gratification and feeling important.

Both trophy and serial killer plan the killing in advance, enjoying stalking and choosing the site, often finding this foreplay more exciting than the actual killing. Both serial and trophy killers take trophy body parts or adornments from the bodies – like antlers, heads, skins.

“The combination of festive activities and killing breeds sadism. You should never combine torture and killing of animals with happiness, having fun & lots of alcohol, having a good time for people. Neither torturing nor killing is fun for an animal.” That is a quote from Marius Donker who wrote against causing animal suffering.

But Wisconsin’s DNR is all about causing suffering and death, terrorizing wildlife with packs of dogs, mentoring trapping, mangling and bludgeoning wildlife, combining alcohol and lots of fun killing.

We do not have a Department of anything “natural”. It has become the Department of Serial Killing.

This year, the long-standing Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Wolf Science and legislatively mandated Stakeholders Committees were wiped out by order of the DNR secretary. In their place, the Wolf Advisory Committee was created, membership "by invitation only" from the DNR Secretary. Twenty-five of the 26 members are wolf removal agents.

Meanwhile, members of the Bear Hunters' Association instigated resolutions to cull Wisconsin wolves in 18 counties -- the same bear hunters who were instrumental in the expedited implementation of wolf hunting and trapping legislation, mandating the use of dogs on wolves, even though the majority of Wisconsin residents oppose the use of dogs on wolves, as demonstrated both in polls and in the Conservation Congress Hearings.

Bob Welch, executive director of the Wisconsin Hunters Rights Coalition, an organization that was active in lobbying for the season and also in authoring the legislation creating the hunt, said hunters who cannot use dogs won't kill wolves.

“The wolf hunt is an ‘ego-testical’ hunt. We all know the history of ‘science’ trumping ethics. There is too much testosterone in the North American wildlife model.” — Paul Paquet, internationally renowned Canadian wolf biologist

Wisconsin’s killing spree targeting 251 wolves (a third of our wolves) was the shame of the International Wolf Symposium, “Wolves and Humans at the Crossroads,” held in Duluth, Minn., Oct. 10-13. Killing wolves at random was described as analogous to “shooting into a crowd hoping to hit a criminal.”

A trip to the International Wolf Center and the Bear Education Center in Ely, Minn., energized symposium participants who viewed the live wolf and live bear enclosures to soak up the beauty of these exceptional mammals. The myth of the big bad wolf was dispelled and it was obvious that these power animals had won over the “old white guys” who had worked with them for 40 to 50 years. Biologists who had reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone documented the richness of healthy ecosystems and balance brought to habitats stripped of diversity by the man-imposed destruction of wolves, now thriving again. They were angered by wolves being slaughtered rather than being respected as honored members of our community.

Scores of biologists representing 39 countries gave presentations nearly nonstop throughout the three days. These scientists have worked directly with wolves, radio-collaring, documenting what they described as their very challenging and dangerous lives.

Most wolf mortality is caused by man. But they also die from mange, parvo, lyme disease, starvation, fights with other wolves and carnivores, kicks from deer or elk, and car collisions. Seventy percent of pups die within the first year.

Richard Thiel experienced Wisconsin wolves for 30 years before he retired. He has found a home on the board of directors of the Wolf Center. He is the retired Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources biologist who told Joy Cardin on public radio that in all the years he worked with wolves, pushing them off deer carcasses and having them walk right up to him, he never felt the need to carry a firearm and he never did.

Within the book, biologists break from the outdated policy of dealing with wild animals as just “populations.” The traditional self-serving hunter “science” has dealt with all wildlife through the pronounced bias that maintaining hunt-able populations is all that matters. The book celebrates the value of the INDIVIDUAL wolf as a sentient being who suffers and deserves moral consideration.

Biologist John Vucetich, writing the book’s introduction, considers the life of a wolf from the wolf’s perspective, urging empathy. He explains how wolves have sensory consciousness, memories, dreams, intentionality, emotions and personality, concluding that these similarities humans share with wolves are significant. He says, “Wolves are certainly not human … but it is an entirely separate concern to ask, is a wolf a person?” He concludes that given the traits mentioned above, “All mammals experience life. Each has a story to tell and a life with which to empathize. … It is perfectly right to treat our dogs as people. Native Americans were certain wolves and many other creatures were people.”

This book will educate and change the human people who read it.

One of the most exciting forums was a debate on trapping and hunting wolves. On the wolves’ side was Howard Goldman of the Minnesota Humane Society and Paul Paquet, Canadian wolf biologist. On the pro-hunting/trapping side were Jim Hammill, a Michigan DNR biologist and an avid hunter with Safari International, and Gary Leistico, a lifelong trapper and lawyer representing numerous trapping associations.

Paquet’s defense of wolves exposed the sham of the good ol’ boy system: “There is a lot of testosterone driving the North American wildlife model. It is not a ‘gold standard’ but a ‘lead standard,’ narrowly directed to using wolves as targets to kill. It is human-centered domination by man for his own use — killing competition for deer, trophy killing for pleasure. There is no doubt that we are inflicting physical and psychological harm to wolves and causing them intense suffering. Serving our own interests, sanctifying switching off conscience. It is unethical.”

Paquet continued, “Individuals are important and you are failing to consider individual suffering. The harm is more serious when it is intentional with no worthwhile purpose. It has long been recognized that wanting to cause pain is wrong, especially when we have the cognitive ability to know it. Bottom line: Stop killing wolves.”

Hammill, in an intense voice, said he resented reference to the “recreational” killing of wolves. He said, “Hunting is not baseball. This is something deep within us.”

Hammill gave a final swipe at Paquet: “Then killing deer and ducks is immoral — disrespecting those species.”

Please contact your state representatives and senators to oppose LRB 3191, which would give $500,000 of public tax money, every two years, to recruit more wildlife killing on our public land. Contact them to support SB 93, Sen. Fred Risser’s bill banning the use of dogs against wolves.

Patricia Randolph of Portage is a longtime activist for wildlife. madravenspeak@gmail.com or www.wiwildlifeethic.org

Wolf management zone 6 will close to hunting and trapping of gray wolves effective 2 p.m. Thursday, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday afternoon.

The closure was initiated when 29 wolves were registered; the zone's harvest quota is 30. Zone 6 covers most of the southern two-thirds of Wisconsin.

When the closure takes effect, five of the six Wisconsin wolf management zones will be closed.

As of Wednesday, 197 wolves had been killed statewide since the season started Oct. 15.

Only Zone 3 (17 wolves registered on Wednesday out of a quota of 71) will remain open after Thursday.

The statewide harvest goal is 251 wolves. State wildlife managers are attempting to reduce the wolf population closer to the goal of 350 established in the 1999 Wisconsin wolf management plan.

Wisconsin had an estimated 809 to 834 wolves in 214 packs in late winter 2013. The wolf population typically doubles each spring after pups are born and then begins to decline from various sources of mortality.

Hunters and trappers are responsible to know the status of zone closures. Information is available on dnr.wi.gov and at (855) 299-9653

When I was a kid I loved Wisconsin. We spent our summers there in a rustic cabin by a deep blue lake. I spent hours laying on the pier watching tadpoles develop on lazy summer afternoons. I loved to see their little legs springing to life, turning them into frogs. There were snapping turtles on the beach, bullfrogs, the lake was teeming with fish. The little sunnys and perch would shelter under the pier during the hottest parts of the day. I remember tracing my fingers through the water thinking about nothing but the warmth of the sun and blue sky overhead, wonderful days. I tracked muskrats through the marshes near the cabin, built forts with my friends, spent time at a dairy farm down the road, drinking fresh milk, straight from the cow. We spent hours sitting in an ancient apple tree, chatting about the day, At night the cows would trek home from the field, the lead cow wore a bell and all the other cows would line in behind her as she led them home. That’s when dairy cows spent their days grazing on lush pasture not holed up in dark, dank factory farms. In the winter we’d ice skate on the lake, making sure not to get too close to the reeds and cattails where the ice was thin. Those were precious memories from my youth, now tainted by the wolf slaughter. Wisconsin has become a killing field for gray wolves. I no longer love it and the images of my youth have been ruined forever. I only think of Wisconsin now when I read the latest evil done to the wolves, who are being systematically destroyed in my childhood playground.In the states second wolf hunting season 251 wolves have been targeted for death. They are knee-deep in wolf blood in Wisconsin, 193 wolves have been wiped out since the hunt began. They’re aiming for a total of 251 dead wolves and it looks like they’re going to get there pretty darn quick. An average of 11 wolves are being killed every day since the hunt began on October 15, a mere 22 days ago.The only upside to this horror is the dog/wolf hunt probably won’t happen this year, as they race toward their murderous ” 251 dead wolf quota”. By the time it’s legal to hunt wolves with dogs, on December 2, the “wolf blood lust season” will be closed/ maybe? There’s an appeal waiting to be decided, only the court can stop this “dog/on/wolf”madness.“When a pack of dogs pursues a wolf … a wolf will turn and fight and kill if necessary to protect its territory. And there you have a state-sanctioned bloody dog fight right here on our public land.”…..Opposing ViewsAnd I thought the Northern Rockies were brutal but they’re downright vicious in Wisconsin.===Fast Kill Rate In Wisconsin Wolf Hunt Could Mean No Dogs Will Be UsedBy Phyllis M Daugherty, Mon, November 04, 2013http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/animal-rights/fast-kill-rate-wisconsin-wolf-hunt-could-mean-no-dogs-will-be-used-video#===Wisconsin wolf hunting on a brisk paceBy Dave Orrickdorrick@pioneerpress.com===Photo: Wisconsin DNRgray wolf dnr wi.govPosted in: Wolf Wars, Animal CrueltyTags: Wisconsin, Badger state, boycott wolf killing states, wolf slaughter

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THE WOLF HUNTING/TRAPPING SEASON OVER IN NW WISCONSIN

NOVEMBER 2, 2013

Save Our Wolves

Your Wolves Daily News

The wolf hunting and trapping season is over in northwestern Wisconsin.

Zone 1, which includes all of Bayfield and Ashland counties and large portions of Douglas, Sawyer, Price and Iron counties, officially closed at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The zone is closed to the hunting and trapping of gray wolves for the remainder of the 2013 season.

As of Thursday, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources reported 77 wolves taken in Zone 1. The quota for the zone was 76, more than double last year’s.

David MacFarland, DNR large carnivore specialist, said a strong harvest was expected in Zone 1, which has a thriving wolf population.

“Zone 1 is one of our core areas,” MacFarland said. “From a hunting or trapping perspective, it may be more desirable to hunt and trap than some of our peripheral zones.”

The closure of Zone 1 was prompted by a jump in harvest numbers Tuesday. Statewide, Tuesday’s harvest was the fourth largest this season, with 16 wolves taken — nine from Zone 1.

Tom Hauge, DNR wildlife management director, said calls came in steadily Tuesday as hunters and trappers reported their kills. Successful license holders have 24 hours to report a kill.

The DNR tracks harvest totals daily through call-in reporting. Officials act quickly when they see a spike in harvest numbers, but Hauge said they lack the historical data needed to forecast trends.

“It’s a little bit like the stock market in that it goes up and down,” Hauge said.

The torrid pace of this year’s hunt has been surprising.

Just 16 days into Wisconsin’s second annual wolf season, half of the state’s six harvest zones have closed. Zones 1 and 5 both closed Wednesday. Zone 2 closed Oct. 23 — eight days after the season opened.

In 2012, the first zone did not close until Nov. 16. Zone 1 remained open into December, along with three other zones.

Statewide, the harvest goal was 116 wolves last season. This year it increased to 251.

“We expected a bigger harvest,” Hauge said. “But even with that extra harvest, it’s clear that the pace is progressing faster than last year.”

MacFarland said he believes the faster pace is due to a change in hunter behavior. He points to a shift in the ratio of hunters to trappers as a possible explanation.

Almost 83 percent of the wolves taken this season have been trapped. Last year, trapping accounted for 52 percent of the harvest, according to the DNR.

Trapping wolves was a new experience in 2012, but this year, Hauge thinks trappers have become more savvy.

“It’s possible that in the course of a year, those lessons learned were shared with the wider community,” Hauge said.

Another possible factor is the increase in hunters and trappers in the woods early.

Through Thursday, the DNR reported license sales at 1,809 for residents and 11 for nonresidents.

By the third week of the 2012 season, the DNR had sold 825 resident licenses and six nonresident licenses.

“It’s going to be a while before we can confidently say what the causes are,” Hauge said. The DNR will send a questionnaire to wolf license recipients at the end of the season to gather more information.

The wolf season remains open in Zones 3, 4 and 6, but hunters and trappers are advised to verify a zone’s status daily. Notice of closures is posted online at dnr.wi.gov and announced on the wolf call-in number, 1-855-299-9653.

Zone 3 continues to see minimal harvest numbers as the season enters its third week. Through Wednesday, only 10 wolves were reported for the zone. The quota for Zone 3 is set at 71 wolves.

“We really don’t know why things are lagging there, other than the selectivity of trappers and hunters for their preferred zone,” MacFarland said.

Zones 4 and 6 are nearing their quotas. With numbers reported through Wednesday, Zone 6 was six away from its quota of 30. Zone 4, with a quota of 12, reported eight wolves harvested.

Source

It’s just sad to see a state so eager to kill innocent animals. Trapping is even more cruel. When you think some of the trappers don’t even check their traps every 24h but after days and let those beautiful animals starve to their death. What are you doing Wisconsin ? Trying to reach a record for the most killed wolves in the shortest time ? Want a medal ? What sad people., not even forced to kill the wolves but just doing the dirty job for the state. Unbelievable.

In December, "Hounding" is set to commence in Wisconsin. We ask that you take action to stop that. The following email will ask Wisconsin NRD Board members to hear S.B. 93 in Committee to be reviewed, and to stop the horrific and brutal practice of wolf hunting by hounding in Wisconsin.

Speak up by sending a copy and paste email, the sample and contacts are below. Thank you.

Dear ......

Please review and discontinue the allowed practice of Wolf Hounding .

In December, wolf hunters in Wisconsin will be permitted to use dogs to hunt wolves.

Wolf hunters can send up to six dogs at a time to chase down wolves and send in fresh dogs when necessary to replace tired, exhausted, and dead dogs.

The dogs are stressed to begin with, possessing a natural fear of wolves for very good reason. A wolf can kill a dog with one snap of its jaws.

The following are methods used to train dogs to over come their fear of wolves.

1. The stomachs of wolves are boiled down and fed to the hounding dogs.

2. Wolf pups are obtained by wolf hounders, by raiding wolf dens and placed in a fenced yard, a practice called "penning" and legal in Wisconsin.

The wolf pup is placed in a roll cage and the hounding dogs are released to harass the pup to the point of exhaustion, when it is then released for the hounding dogs to kill it.

3. Wolf hounders cut the hamstrings on the legs of wolves, disabling the wolf, and then releasing the hounding dogs on it.

These methods are used by wolf hounders as common practice.

( Are you feeling sick yet? )

Please, propose that S.B. 93 -prohibiting use of dogs in wolf hunt is heard in Committee.

Updated: Monday, October 7, 2013, 5:01 AM CDTPublished: Monday, October 7, 2013, 5:01 AM CDTMADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin's second wolf season starts next week.The season is scheduled to begin on Oct. 15 and run through Feb. 28. The state Department of Natural Resources could end the season earlier if hunters reach the 251-wolf kill limit.Hunters killed 117 wolves during the state's inaugural season last year, one more than their limit. The DNR closed the season in December, two months eary.The DNR has awarded permits to 2,510 applicants through a drawing this year. As of Friday 1,023 of those applicants had purchased a permit.http://www.fox11online.com/web/fox11online/news/wisconsin/wisconsin-wolf-hunt-set-to-begin-next-week

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WISCONSIN GOP EFFORTS TO EXPAND HUNTING IRK OPPONENTS

By TODD RICHMOND, Associated Press

Sunday, September 22, 2013

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin outdoorsmen spent most of the last decade chafing at the state Department of Natural Resources, accusing the agency of ruining hunting with overly strict regulations.

Republican Scott Walker told hunters on the campaign trail things would be different if he was elected governor, and two years later, it is. Walker and his fellow Republicans have reshaped Wisconsin’s outdoors scene with an intense drive to expand hunting.

Some fees have been cut, hunting and trapping in state parks is now OK, wolves are now fair game and it’s no longer necessary to shoot a doe before getting a buck. Supporters say the moves are important to shore up the $1.4 billion hunting industry as interest wanes among a younger generation.

“At the heart of it, legislators are truly trying to promote the hunting heritage, hopefully in perpetuity, so it doesn’t die on the vine,” said Sen. Neal Kedzie, R-Elkhorn, chairman of the Senate’s natural resources committee.

But conservationists and hunting opponents say Republicans and the DNR have tried so hard to please hunters they’ve forgotten non-hunters such as hikers, skiers and birdwatchers.

“I don’t really understand why, instead of promoting all these things, why aren’t they promoting tourism or photography? They’re just not diversifying at all,” said Melissa Smith, organizer of the group Friends of Wisconsin Wolves. “Can’t we encourage people to enjoy the outdoors without killing something?”

Hunting has always been part of the social and economic fabric in Wisconsin. But interest has been waning. According to DNR data, the hunting participation rate for adult males dropped 16 percent between 2000 and 2009. The youth participation rate declined about the same over that span.

DNR hunting officials cite several factors for the dropoff, including aging hunters, a perception that there’s nowhere to hunt and time-consuming video games. Hunter frustration with the DNR was intense over those years, too. They complained about the agency’s earn-a-buck regulations, which required hunters to kill antlerless deer before taking bucks. They also criticized the DNR’s plan to kill as many deer as possible in southwestern Wisconsin to slow the spread of chronic wasting disease.

DNR officials, then under Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s administration, said they were following science-based approaches to thin a burgeoning deer herd. But hunters said the tactics were leading to anemic hunts and the agency was ignoring them.

Since Walker and his fellow Republicans took control of state government and the DNR, they’ve eliminated earn-a-buck, created a hunter recruitment council, reduced license fees for first-time hunters and hunters who recruit others to the sport, required online hunter education courses and ended the general prohibition on hunting and trapping in state parks.

They also implemented the state’s first wolf hunt and introduced bills to establish sandhill crane, woodchuck and crossbow deer seasons as well as block local governments from restricting bow and crossbow hunting. The DNR has dusted off plans to import elk in hopes of creating a season on them and is studying how to implement mini deer hunts on private land.

“When your numbers of new outdoors people … continue to go down, the way to increase those numbers is to make it more accessible,” said Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, an avid hunter who wrote the bills for a sandhill crane season and against local restrictions on bow and crossbow hunting.

The movement has political roots, too. Walker courted hunters on the campaign trail and pro-hunting groups, including the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association and the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, have spent tens of thousands of dollars lobbying lawmakers since the GOP took over the Legislature in 2011.

Opposition to the sandhill crane season was so intense Republican leaders never brought the bill up for a floor vote. And hunters’ latitude in state parks won’t be unlimited; the DNR’s board is poised this week to block hunters from firing from and across state park trails and to require trappers to use dog-proof snares in the parks.

But conservationists and animal rights advocates haven’t had much success elsewhere.

A judge this spring let stand the Legislature’s provisions allowing hunters to use dogs to track wolves, a blow to a group of humane societies that argued the practice would lead to bloody wolf-dog fights in the woods. This summer the DNR rejected the Sierra Club’s request to join the committee that crafts wolf hunt policy. DNR Land Division Administrator Kurt Thiede wrote in a letter to the Wisconsin chapter’s executive director, Shahla Werner, that the committee isn’t comprised of groups that oppose wolf management since state law now calls for hunting.

Smith sent a letter to DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp this month complaining non-hunters have nowhere to enjoy nature. She suggested the DNR raise conservation dollars by offering wolf- and bear-watching tours, kayak trips and canoe outings.

“This agency is controlled by a small amount of people with very narrow interests,” she wrote. “That’s why you’re holding onto traditions that are fading away and find yourself in trouble.”

SCANDAL WIDENS - WI's Wolf Recovery Program was hijacked by United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Inc. who lobbied thousands of dollars ($60,387) for creation of WI's Wolf Hunt, mining and land development. WI legislators & Governor have sold out WI's natural resources including our beloved wolves. This week begins the legislative session. Please flood them w/ calls & e-mails. Also, the Natural Resources Committee is refusing to hear Risser's SB93; now is the time to write!!! cc Sen.Risser@legis.wisconsin.gov- the author of SB93 - banning dogs on wolves.

We will be at Sheila Harsdorf's office protesting this week and will keep you updated with pictures. Rachel shared the following: "I have been a stakeholder in wolf management & recovery since 1998 and will be standing at Sheila Harsdorf's office in protest! Call me a wolf ACTIVIST in memory of White Eyes." Join us by protesting at your Senator/Rep's office this week and next. If you don't reside near the capitol, go to their district office…take pictures and send them to us (wolvesdouglasco@gmail.com).PLEASE SHARE THIS EVERYWHERE!!!!We need to begin turning the ship, and now is the time.

Here is the link to the most recent Milwaukee Sentinel article on the evolving scandal, the article is included here below the list of names as well:

Before the United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Inc. misfired on a controversial $500,000 state grant, the conservative hunting and fishing group had plenty of political ammo — and one of the biggest guns in the state Republican Party among its backers.

United Sportsmen had two former state senators on its board and tight ties to the No. 2 lawmaker in the Assembly, powerful national lobbies, and a Rolodex of Republican insiders, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel review has found. But their real firepower was Wisconsin industrialist Terry Kohler, one of themost influential GOP donors in the state who personally reached out to key Republican lawmakers to urge them to slip the taxpayer money into the state budget for the favored group.

Two weeks before GOP lawmakers offered the grant provision specifically written for the inexperienced group, Kohler wrote to Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau and three other legislators on the budget committee urging their support for "a Sporting Heritage Legacy Grant to the United Sportsmen."

In an interview, Fitzgerald confirmed what other lawmakers such as Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) are openly acknowledging — that the grant was pushed heavily by former Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford), who is any day expected to take a political appointment in Gov. Scott Walker's administration with a still undecided salary that could be $107,000 annually — more than twice his pay of $49,943 a year as a lawmaker.

As the May 13 letter shows, Fitzgerald said he understood that the grant was aimed at United Sportsmen, contradicting a past statement by Suder that the grant was meant to be competitive and wasn't being steered to one group.

"This was one item among a slew of items that we were dealing with at the end" of the budget, Fitzgerald said. "When we started horsetrading items back and forth, the Assembly had a list of things and Scott Suder — this was his thing and I think he'd be proud to say it was."

Suder, who as of Thursday still had Walker's support, made no comment except to say by text message that he didn't speak with Kohler about the grant. But Walker, his appointees and GOP lawmakers have spent the past several days pointing fingers at one another over who should have been responsible for vetting the grant and for not quickly disclosing that the original proposal would have endangered $28million a year in federal wildlife money.

United Sportsmen has done lobbying on behalf of a mining project and political work on behalf of Republicans, but it hasn't ever taught the hunting and fishing classes called for in the grant. A Journal Sentinel investigation into its legal filings and public statements about them has revealed a tangled mess of errors, rules violations and outright misrepresentations.

Beyond the support from Kohler, United Sportsmen has an array of political connections, with a former National Rifle Association lobbyist and a former Suder chief of staff on its board and a tea party activist as its treasurer.

The Walker administration awarded the grant — which was easily renewable in future years — but then canceled it after the newspaper revealed that United Sportsmen had misstated its tax-exempt status and its president had been cited for shooting a bear in 2005 without the proper license.

For years, the state has given similar awards to environmental groups such as the River Alliance of Wisconsinand Wisconsin Association of Lakes that Republicans like Sen. Tom Tiffany of Hazelhurst see as more aligned with Democrats. Tiffany, for instance, said he was upset by radio ads by the River Alliance criticizing a mining bill that he pushed.

The state grants can't be used for purposes like the radio ads, but Tiffany said he still wanted to eliminate them. He said he backed the sportsmen's grant when he couldn't convince his fellow Republicans to cut all the grants.

In his letter to Fitzgerald and the other lawmakers, Kohler said that only a fraction of the federal taxes on sporting goods sales were spent on sustaining the state's rich hunting and fishing traditions.

"This needs to change in order ... to ensure that our proud heritage of sporting and conservation continues to grow," Kohler wrote.

R.J. Johnson, a political operative and spokesman in this case for Kohler, defended the letter in a statement.

"Through the DNR, the Legislature has made several named legacy grants to groups with an environmental focus. None of those groups are dedicated to our hunting and fishing traditions," Johnson said in the statement. "Terry Kohler believes resources derived from the sales of guns, ammunition, sporting goods, boats, motors and fishing equipment in Wisconsin should be dedicated to supporting programs that strengthen that heritage in our state."

Some of the federal funds in question have gone to environmental efforts such as trumpeter swan recovery in Wisconsin that Kohler has also supported in his charitable work.

Ties to donor group

Johnson said that Kohler had not contacted Walker about the United Sportsmen grant but declined to say if Kohler was behind Citizens for a Strong America, a political group with undisclosed donors that gave $235,000 to the then-fledgling United Sportsmen in 2011. Johnson's wife, Valerie, is the treasurer for Citizens for a Strong America.

In addition to representing Kohler, Johnson works for Walker as a political consultant. An aide to Walker said the governor did not talk to Kohler or Johnson about the grant.

Kohler comes from one of Wisconsin's political dynasties — his grandfather, Walter J. Kohler, and his father, Walter J. Kohler, Jr. both served as governor. Terry Kohler himself ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 1980 and for governor in 1982 and like his father before him, he ran The Vollrath Co., a kitchen utensil and cookware company in Sheboygan.

Since 2000, Terry Kohler and his wife, Mary, have been near the top of Wisconsin donors for political contributions, giving more than $1.5 million to the Republican Governors Association, the Club for Growth and others that promote conservative causes during elections, figures from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign show. In addition, the couple has given more than $235,000 to candidates for the Legislature and statewide office over the past 20 years, according to the democracy campaign, which tracks political spending and lobbies for campaign finance reform.

"It is disgusting that Terry Kohler, one of the richest people in Wisconsin, would come with his hand out and ask for a multimillion dollar taxpayer grant to a pet partisan political operation. And it is an outrage that Gov. Walker and the Republican Legislature were so eager to give it to him," said Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now.

Fitzgerald described Kohler as a "good friend" and "big supporter" of both Republican senators and Fitzgerald personally.

"If Terry sends me a letter, I read it," Fitzgerald said.

But Fitzgerald said he gets other letters from Kohler, such as one the former executive sent Fitzgerald and Vos, the Assembly leader, opposing a bill to allow the hunting of sandhill cranes in Wisconsin.

In a story that ran in Gannett Co. newspapers in July, Kohler rejected the idea that his hefty political giving helps him directly but acknowledged receiving some access to elected leaders. Walker, for instance, is scheduled to appear at an October event honoring Kohler's father and grandfather.

"Would I have been able to get Scott to do that if I hadn't been contributing? Now if you want to call that access, go ahead," Kohler told Gannett. "But the fact of the matter is, Scott's honored in that situation, too. He'll be in a room with two dead governors and himself."

Unlikely allies

A lifelong hunter, angler and sailor, Kohler has helped fund efforts to improve the Brule River and been a major financial supporter in the re-introduction of whooping cranes to Wisconsin and the eastern United States. He also helped fund crane projects around the world, including an ecological study of Siberian cranes and other wildlife in Jiangxi Province in China. He frequently lends his private jet to help transport chicks and eggs as part of an effort to bring back the endangered bird — the largest in North America.

Kohler's interests in politics, business and the outdoors meet in an unlikely merger in United Sportsmen.

United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Inc. was formed about two years ago and since then has spent $60,387 lobbying lawmakers in favor of sporting legislation such as the creation of a wolf hunt as well as bills to better enable development in wetlands and ease the way for a massive open-pit iron mine in northern Wisconsin. Last week, a Senate committee narrowly approved a proposal that would allow closures of the normally open mining site to hunters and hikers because of problems with protesters.

In its grant application, United Sportsmen said the group wants to build a top-notch training facility, a goal that would appear to require substantial financial backing. Scott Meyer, the executive director and lobbyist for United Sportsmen, did not return repeated phone calls.

United Sportsmen also sent out a mailing in the 2011 state Senate recall elections and sponsored the Sportsmen Freedom Fest and Concert in Lake Delton with the conservative group Americans for Prosperity and the National Rifle Association in October 2012, just ahead of the presidential election.

That worries Herb Behnke of Shawano, a longtime former member and chairman of the Natural Resources Board who was appointed by Republican governors.

"True conservationists work to improve and protect the resources; they don't work a political angle," Behnke said, in reference to United Sportsmen. "Wise people helped create a conservation system in Wisconsin that was insulated from politics. It's a shame to see the protections weakened and groups try to take advantage of their political connections."

In May, before lawmakers took up the issue of the grant, Kohler sent his letter urging it to Fitzgerald and three Republicans on the budget committee: co-chairwoman Sen. Alberta Darling of River Hills; Sen. Joe Leibham of Sheboygan; and Rep. Dan LeMahieu of Cascade.

Boosting lagging rates of hunting and fishing has bipartisan support. When LeMahieu and Leibham offered a motion on May 29, the Joint Finance Committee unanimously approved the grant after just seven minutes of debate.

Federal funds at risk

The discussion didn't dwell on the fact that, under the motion, the grant must go to groups that are "not an affiliate of a national federation or organization." That meant conservation groups such as the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and state chapters of Pheasants Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation were prevented from applying for it.

LeMahieu and Leibham said they offered the amendment at the behest of others — LeMahieu for Suder and Leibham for Tiffany. Leibham and LeMahieu said they did not realize the measure they introduced was so narrowly tailored that United Sportsmen was likely the only group that would receive it — even though Kohler had written both of them specifically asking that the money go to United Sportsmen.

Leibham said when he became aware of the issue from a Journal Sentinel story last month, he contacted members of a special heritage committee urging them to block the grant to United Sportsmen. The committee approved the grant but Walker canceled it days later as more problems with the grant and United Sportsmen became public.

Leibham said he spoke to Kohler, who lives in Leibham's district, about issues such as school vouchers, but not the grant. LeMahieu said he did not talk to Kohler and did not remember receiving the letter from the powerful Republican from his region.

"I'm not saying we didn't get it, but when you're on Finance you get hundreds of letters requesting specific things," LeMahieu said.

Sen. Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn) said Leibham left him a message before the committee vote on Aug. 29 urging him to slow down the grant, not vote no. A voice mail Leibham left Rep. Al Ott (R-Forest Junction) about the grant was not received until after Ott had voted for the grant, according to an aide to Ott.

Agency sent warnings

Despite their role in drafting the measure, Leibham and LeMahieu said they were never told the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service sent two letters to the Department of Natural Resources before the budget passed warning them that, as written, the measure could have cost the state $28million in federal funding. In the end, Walker partially vetoed that section to address that concern, though that meant that the state missed a chance to have federal funds pay for part of the grant.

Other members of the Joint Finance Committee also said no one told them about the risk to federal funding and the higher cost to state taxpayers.

"It's just another thing they don't tell you around here," said Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend).

"That information would have been good to know," said Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield).

Last week a DNR spokesman said officials at that agency also told Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna) about the warnings, but on Friday said Steineke likely was out of the room during a discussion on that issue. Steineke said he was never told about the matter.

Vos, the Assembly speaker, said he did not recall Suder or anyone else alerting him to the dangers to federal funding included in the June 18 letter. He said that he thought lawmakers deferred to Suder on the issue because they knew he could be leaving office soon and that the grant might be Suder's legacy.

"This was Scott's baby," Vos said.

On Thursday, Walker told reporters he stood by his administration's appointment of Suder to the Public Service Commission, citing Suder's long service in the Legislature as a legislator and aide.

"That's why his colleagues elected him majority leader," Walker said.

Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this article.

The story behind a $500,000 grant given to an alleged sportsmen association keeps getting better and better, if you’re a fan of political intrigue.

The story keeps getting worse and worse if you’re a fan of good government and responsible spending.

An organization called the United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Foundation applied for the grant with the Department of Natural Resources intended to promote hunting and fishing in the state, particularly with women and kids. But it turns out the grant was written, as part of the 2013-15 budget, to favor the organization. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported, the grant’s requirements excluded the types of groups that typically promote and educate about outdoors sports, the grant’s public notice was minimal and the organization has close ties to former Rep. Scott Suder, who until recently was the Assembly Majority Leader and co-wrote the motion to include the grant in the budget.

The United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Foundation, though it had no history of doing the kind of work the grant sought and has largely been a lobbying organization, was the only group to apply for the grant.

Last week, even after all of that information was revealed, the state’s Sporting Heritage Committee — which includes Rep. Al Ott, R-Forest Junction — approved the grant.

Then, Tuesday, the DNR released documents that showed the organization doesn’t have non-profit status — it’s still awaiting federal approval. Though it turns out non-profit status isn’t required to get the grant, the organization’s president told the committee that it indeed had it. Now, that’s being explained as a big misunderstanding. And, the DNR awarded the grant to the organization anyway.

The whole situation is a joke — a bad one, with taxpayers funding the punchline. The right thing to do is for either the DNR to rescind the grant or, if it can’t, for the Legislature to eliminate the funding for it.

A UW researcher says Wisconsin's wolf hunts at their current levels are not sustainable.

A UW researcher is growing increasingly concerned about the plight of the gray wolf on Wisconsin’s landscape.

For 15 years, environmental studies associate professor Adrian Treves has studied the ecology of the carnivore’s interactions with people and has surveyed Wisconsin residents on wolf policy and management.

Treves predicts Wisconsin's wolf hunts, at their current levels, are not sustainable. More than 250 gray wolves are expected to be slain in the state's upcoming second annual wolf hunt season, which starts on October 15.

Treves says that number represents "a little more than 30% of the late winter wolf count," which means Wisconsin has the highest or second highest wolf quota on the record in North America. Treves calls it an undeniably "aggressive wolf hunt."

Treves says there is a high likelihood that by April 2015, the wolf hunt will have to be closed due to such a steep decline in the wolf population. That decline may result in the gray wolf being re-listed in Wisconsin as a threatened and endangered species by 2016.

He also warns that there's real risk that the wolf population could be driven so low that it cannot recover, and the federal government would “have to step in, again, under emergency re-listing rules of The Endangered Species Act."

It's an interesting finding, given the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans earlier this summer to lift the creature from the threatened and endangered species list throughout the country. That’s already happened in Wisconsin, even as pro-wolf groups are trying to overturn the decision to delist the gray wolf in the Great Lakes region.

Treves – along with colleagues at Michigan Tech and Ohio State University – co-authored a scientific criticism of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan. The agency has stated that tolerance for wolves is higher within current wolf range. Treves says that statement flies in the face of data gleaned from more than 100 scientific studies. The researcher says, in general, the U.S. public supports gray wolf recovery in appropriate environments. Further, Treves says, public tolerance of wolves is lower within currently existing wolf range.

Treves says not only are the state's wolf hunt practices not sustainable, they also contradict public opinion. His team's report found a five to seven percent increase in people opposing particular ways of hunting wolves. According to Treves, a majority of the Wisconsin public, outside the wolf range, do not support the current wolf hunt.

But Treves says public opinion is not carrying the weight it should. Instead, he says the proposal to eliminate federal protection for wolves seems “politically motivated" and "excessive," while contradicting scientific evidence.

Treves and Masters candidate Jamie Hogberg will be sharing the results of their public opinion survey on Wisconsin wolf policy with a DNR advisory committee Thursday in Wausau.

Mary Annette PemberAugust 14, 2012“Is nothing sacred anymore?” asked Mike Wiggins, chairman of the Bad River Ojibwe Tribe in Wisconsin, in reaction to the proposed wolf hunt in the state.His question was somewhat rhetorical because he already knew the answer. Wisconsin's state legislature passed a law in April allowing for the hunting and trapping of wolves. Since the opening of the permit application process, which runs from August 1–31, more than 3,000 people have applied. The season is scheduled to begin October 15 and run through February 2013.The wolf, Ma’iingan, is considered sacred by the Ojibwe and figures highly in their creation stories. Tribal member Essie Leoso noted that according to tradition, Ma’iingan walked with first man.“Killing a wolf is like killing a brother,” she said.The wolf hunting application fee is copy0. Permits will be given to hunters by the Department of Natural Resources through a lottery-style drawing and will be awarded at a cost of copy00 per permit to 2,010 hunters, according to a recent Associated Press report from Madison. Each permit-carrying hunter will be allowed to take one wolf until the state limit of 201 wolves is reached.Since the grey wolf or timber wolf was removed from the list of endangered animals last December, Wisconsin passed Act 169 allowing for the hunting and trapping of the animals. Minnesota has enacted a similar law and will hold its inaugural wolf-hunting season during approximately the same time period.The decision by the state to allow wolf hunting does not sit well with the tribes in Wisconsin, who were not consulted regarding the rules and limitations of the law before it was enacted. The law allows hunters to shoot or trap wolves during the day or night, and allows the use of bait to attract the animals as well as the use of dogs. According to a recent story in the Wisconsin State Journal, Wisconsin will be the only state that allows the use of dogs in the hunting of wolves.A coalition of groups opposing the hunt is suing the DNR, according to an August 8 story in the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel. Plaintiffs include the Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Dane County Humane Society, Wisconsin Humane Society, Fox Valley Humane Association, Northland Alliance, National Wolfwatcher Coalition as well as individual citizens. The lawsuit claims that the hunt will violate the state’s animal cruelty act, citing the proposed use of dogs in hunting wolves.There is considerable disagreement regarding the number of wolves living in Wisconsin as well as the capacity of the land to support the population. Kurt Thiede, Land Administrator for the DNR, told The DePaulia of DePaul University that the state’s wolf population count was 850 in spring 2012 and that the maximum capacity for Wisconsin land to support is 500 wolves. Organizations such as the Timber Wolf Alliance argue that the land’s carrying capacity is around 800. The Timber Alliance is an organization founded to promote the recovery of the wolf population.Via radio telemetry, the Bad River Ojibwe Natural Resources Department estimates that there are between 14–18 wolves on the 125,000 plus–acre reservation, according to Wiggins.“I have never seen a wolf in the woods in all my years hunting,” he noted in a recent interview. While driving the back roads of the reservation, he has seen wolves only twice.If the wolf population were as high as the DNR estimates, Wiggins observed, there would be no need for the Department’s extensive efforts to manage the burgeoning deer population in the state. The growing interest in hunting wolves is largely driven by Hollywood style hype, Wiggins feels.“Films like The Grey are all about fear mongering and depicting wolves as human predators. The facts, however, don’t support this view,” Wiggins said.He said that despite the presence of wolves in the woods, he and his fellow Ojibwe hunters are still able to fill their freezers with venison.“The presence of wolves in the woods is sacred and tangible. They are a gift,” he said. “From an ecological management perspective, they have a place, and they’re not doing any harm.”The push to hunt the wolf is largely driven by trophy-hungry sportsmen, according to Wiggins.“There is no subsistence factor in wolf hunting,” he said. “The political realm is driving this harvest.”The Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association and other such groups played a lead role in drafting the legislation permitting the hunt, according to a story in the Milwaukee Journal.The six Wisconsin Ojibwe tribes appear to be united in their decision not to hunt wolves. This decision, however, begs an important question. According to treaties signed in 1837 and 1842, Wisconsin’s six Ojibwe tribes ceded land to the government that covers roughly the northern third of the state. In the Voight Decision of 1983, the federal government affirmed the Ojibwe tribes off-reservation fishing and hunting rights on ceded land, permitting them to harvest half of available resources.Therefore, the tribes are entitled to 50 percent of the DNR’s wolf hunt limit of 201 for the season. Will the wolves need to be harvested, i.e. killed, in order to meet the requirements of the Voight Decision? Tribes are concerned that their decision not to harvest wolves may lead the DNR to simply increase the number available to citizens at large.Authorities from each of the tribes as well as representatives from the Great Lakes Intertribal Fish and Wildlife Commission are currently in negotiation with the DNR about the details of the hunt. Asked if the DNR is likely to recognize tribes’ choice not to kill their quota of wolves as still meeting the agreements of the Voight Decision, Jason Stark, Policy Analyst with GLIFWC responded, “We’ll see.”The court has never ruled on whether their hunting entitlement allows them to hunt the wolves or requires them to, according to Stark.“The tribes’ position is that our share is our share, and we have the right to keep animals within our ecosystem,” Stark said.The state’s position is that the tribes have a right to harvest.“The state has won the right to management of resources. The tribes, however, see the state as co-managers,” Stark observed.Ultimately the state has to be sure that any system put forth does not “detriment” the tribe.“This is their responsibility as primary manager,” Stark said.The DNR is in a difficult position, according to Stark, noting that the department has been directed by the court to carry out the wolf hunting law.“They don’t have a lot of wiggle room,” he said. “Our conversations with the DNR are going okay. Hopefully we can figure out what is best. Fortunately we still have some time until the hunt begins.”The Bad River tribal council is unified in opposition to a wolf hunt, said Wiggins and tribal vice chairman Peter Lemieux. The tribe is asking the DNR to create a six-mile buffer zone around the reservation. According to Wiggins, the tribe’s Natural Resources Department has determined that the four wolf packs currently living on the reservation sometimes make excursions beyond reservation boundaries.Since wolves are social animals, the killing of an alpha male or female would lessen the chances of survival for the entire pack, according to Wiggins. In describing their inextricable relationship with the wolf, Ojibwe often speak of their creation story, which says that whatever happens to one will happen to the other.The future of Wisconsin wolves is uncertain. Tribes have until the end of August to declare a wolf quota to the DNR and perhaps create a new, broader definition of the term “harvest.”“At this point, at least I know for sure that our packs will have a bit of sanctuary here on our reservation,” Wiggins said.http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/article/wisconsin-tribes-struggle-to-save-their-brothers-the-wolves-from-sanctioned-hunt-129021#.UgxYQJavPWQ.twitter

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WISCONSIN WOLF HUNT PERMIT DRAWING SET FOR AUGUST 15~2013Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - 2:12pmPress ReleaseCommunity Government (WI) Human Interest OutdoorsNorthwestern WI Twin Ports WisconsinMadison, WIMADISON - A total of 16,672 interested wolf hunters or trappers applied to receive a permit or a preference point for the 2013 Wisconsin wolf hunting season, according to Department of Natural Resources officials.The permit drawing is scheduled to occur Aug. 15. "This is Wisconsin's second state-managed wolf hunt, and a continued testament to the recovery of wolves in Wisconsin," said Dave MacFarland, DNR carnivore specialist. "As we did for the inaugural hunt, we are entering this second season cautiously and will continue to learn valuable information for updating the state's wolf management plan and adopting permanent wolf hunting rules. We are anticipating another successful, safe, season. "The wolf quota, as recommended by the Wolf Advisory Committee and approved by the Natural Resources Board, was set at 275.However, the number of wolves available for harvest by state hunters and trappers has been adjusted to 251, in response to the recent declaration of wolves by the Chippewa Bands of Wisconsin."In order to meet management objectives, putting downward pressure on the population, the number of wolves removed from the landscape needs to increase this year," said MacFarland. "The 2013 quota is designed to start doing so, in a responsible and sustainable manner."With the tribal harvest quota adjustment, 2, 151 permits will be drawn for state hunters and trappers, maintaining the same 10-to-1 permit-to-quota ratio as the 2012 season.One half of available permits will be issued randomly among all permit applications and the second half will be issued through a cumulative preference point drawing.Successful applicants will be notified by letter.Applicants who are not successful in the drawing will be awarded a preference point toward future drawings.Out of the total 16,672 applicants this year, 12,108 applied for a permit and 4,564 applied for a preference point.This compares to 20,270 applicants for 2012, with 17,377 applying for a permit and 2,893 for a preference point.There will again be six harvest zones, identical to 2012.Quotas by zone for state licensed hunters and trappers will be: Zone 1 – 76; Zone 2 – 28; Zone 3 – 71; Zone 4- 12; Zone 5 – 34; Zone 6 – 30."We do expect population decline in all areas of the state, though decline will be less in areas considered core habitat for wolves," said MacFarland. "The zone quotas concentrate hunting pressure more in areas with higher potential for agricultural conflicts, which is generally outside of core habitat areas."The 2013 wolf season starts Oct. 15 and will run until the quota is reached in each zone or the last day of February, whichever occurs first.For more information on wolf management and the 2013 season, please visit dnr.wi.gov and search keyword "wolf."CONTACTS: Dave MacFarland, DNR carnivore specialist, 715-365-8917; Bill Vander Zouwen, DNR wildlife ecology section chief, 608-266-8840

Red bulls-eyes are pictured on wolves, as the billboard urges people to help stop the wolf hunt that's scheduled to begin its second season this fall.Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf, which describes itself as a small, privately funded nonprofit, says money from an unnamed donor is helping to pay for the billboard for three months. Executive director Melissa Smith says buying a billboard along the interstate is a good way to get visitors’ attention.“Sure, they come to the dells for the water parks,” says Smith. “But I think a lot of people come to Wisconsin to enjoy the outdoors. When I go up north, I want to hear wolves – I want to know that they’re there.Smith says the possibility that dogs may be used in this fall's hunt and the chance that more wolves may be killed than last year concern her. State Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, a co-author of the law that authorized wolf hunting in Wisconsin, says he supports the right of the group to put up the billboard. But Suder says the sign won't change many minds, “because the wolf hunt has been successful and is the right management tool.”Suder says there's no reason dogs can't be used with the wolf hunt. But he says the state budget bill did halt the idea of hunting wolves at night.